London Calling

by Sorcha Mowbray

  Quincy, the guard, came through one of the doors and headed in their direction.

  “No!” Trixie cried out.

  Nathaniel stepped between her and Quincy.

  Quincy stopped when Samuel and Fletcher took up places next to her. He glanced at the Duke then gestured for her to come forward.

  Trixie shook her head and tightened her grip on his jacket. “No.” She looked up at the Duke. “I told you I’m not going anywhere without Nathaniel. I’d rather go to the dungeons with them.”

  “Why must you make this difficult?” The Duke motioned to someone near the dais. “Bring him.”

  Peter circled around the table next to them. “Trixie, I know you don’t understand what’s going on. I’m sure you’re scared and want to make sure your friends are safe. I mean…” He glanced up at the Duke. “After all, they did help you come all this way.”

  “Y-yes,” she nodded at Peter.

  “But sometimes we have to do things that we don’t want to do, for the good of other people.”

  What was Peter up to? His behavior was making him uneasy.

  “Enough of this. Take the girl,” the Duke ordered.

  Quincy moved in and attempted to grab Trixie’s arm. She shook off his grip. Nathaniel punched Quincy in the side of the head.

  The metal men in the doorway moved in behind Quincy.

  Samuel and Fletcher grabbed pieces of metal from the tables to use as weapons. Trixie snatched a metal pipe.

  “Trixie don’t do this. They’re programmed to respond to violence,” Peter cautioned. “If you attack, they will counter attack.”

  “That’s right, child. I suggest that you listen to your brother and go with Quincy peacefully. That’s the only way to ensure your friends aren’t killed on the spot.”

  Trixie looked at Nathaniel.

  He assessed the situation. Metal men outnumbered them. The metal men’s abilities were unknown. Peter appeared to be cooperating with the Duke for unknown reasons. The dungeons were not unsafe. He had the means to escape again since Trixie passed Squeaks to him. Trixie would be taken someplace that might be more comfortable for her but her safety questionable. Peter seemed unconcerned about her safety. Peter’s mental state was questionable.

  Dammit. There were too many unknowns for his liking. His gut screamed that he should follow Peter’s lead but he just couldn’t let them take Trixie someplace he couldn’t protect her.

  “Your time is up.” The Duke declared. “Put down the weapons and surrender or your friends will be shot where they stand.”

  “No!” Trixie yelled.

  “Beatrix Madeline Wadeworth, put that down before you get hurt,” a man said from one of the ballroom doors.

  Trixie gasped and whipped around.

  Nathaniel reached to steady her when she swayed unsteadily.

  The metal pipe she held clattered on the floor. “Father?”

  26

  Trixie blinked back the tears that had pooled in her eyes. Even though there had been hints that he was alive she still couldn’t believe it.

  “Father? Is it really you?” Her voice cracked.

  Thomas Wadeworth smiled and moved further into the room. “It is.”

  Her head swam and her feet drug across the floor as if she were slogging through ankle-deep mud. As soon as she was within arm’s reach she launched herself into his arms.

  He hugged her tightly against his chest and whispered into her ear. “It’s all right little bumble bee. It will be fine.” He lowered his voice where only she could hear him. “Listen to Peter and do what he says.”

  She lifted her head and gave him a quick nod. “You look exactly as I remember.” Her eyes darted to his hair and she gave him a watery smile. “But maybe with a little more gray hair.”

  He smiled down at her. “That happens as you get older, my dear.” He glanced up at the Duke. “One day you’ll see.”

  “Yes, let’s all hope so.” The Duke leaned on the banister. “Well this has been a touching reunion, but we have business to take care of and deadlines to meet. Quincy, if you please?”

  “No.” Thomas said as he herded her closer to Peter and Nathaniel. “You promised if I helped you that my children would never be harmed. Yet here they are.”

  “And they’re unharmed, aren’t they?” the Duke countered.

  “Let her go,” Thomas insisted.

  “Afraid I cannot do that. She knows too much.” The Duke gestured to Nathaniel, Samuel, and Fletcher. “They all do. No one leaves this island until I have my army.”

  “That wasn’t part of the agreement,” Thomas said.

  “She changed the terms of the agreement by coming here. I didn’t bring her here,” the Duke declared.

  “No, but I would wager it was you who sent me and Peter the threatening letters wasn’t it?” Trixie said.

  “What letters?” Thomas asked.

  “Letters demanding we locate and deliver your journal,” Peter admitted. “They came not long before they grabbed me.”

  Thomas shot the Duke a withering look.

  “I suspect that’s when he discovered I had continued your research for an alternative power source,” Peter added.

  “Which is why you changed you plans. If you couldn’t have the diary, then perhaps a father-son team might solve your little problem. Is that right?” Thomas asked.

  “Why not have both?” The Duke held up the diary.

  Peter and her father both cringed.

  The Duke chuckled. “So you see, I don’t really need either of you.”

  Nathaniel spoke up. “Actually, I’m afraid you still do. Perhaps you’ve already discovered that the book is very nearly impenetrable. And even if you do manage to break through the casing you’ll find that the text is coded.” He tipped his head at Thomas, in a sort of salute. “A well thought out code too, I might point out.”

  “Oh, and what do you know about these things?” the Duke sneered.

  “Actually code work is my specialty,” Nathaniel admitted.

  The Duke lifted his chin.

  “As a member of the Royal Intelligence Office.”

  Even from where they stood, she could see that the Duke’s face had turned red.

  “Guards,” the Duke bellowed. “Take them! Secure the castle and send men out to the dock. Prepare for unwanted company immediately.” The Duke turned to exit the dais.

  The metal men advanced further into the room. Their heavy footsteps echoing through the room like gunshots.

  Quincy stepped back, giving them room. Samuel and Fletcher prepared to defend themselves.

  Trixie’s heartbeat sped up. She grasped her father’s jacket and edged away from the metal men.

  “A moment more, your lordship,” Peter called out.

  The Duke stopped and shot him a haughty look of annoyance.

  The metal men moved closer, one heavy step at a time.

  “I am afraid your army may not meet all of your requirements,” Peter said.

  Trixie and Nathaniel exchanged glances.

  The Duke returned to the banister. “What do you mean?” Pounding footsteps very nearly drowned out his question.

  “One of your specifications was that they respond to all of your voice commands.”

  “And that was met,” the Duke waved to the advancing army.

  “With one exception,” Peter said.

  The Duke tightened his grip on the bannister. “And what would that be?”

  “When I override your commands.” Peter used his thumb to push the button on the device he held.

  The metal men stopped their advance. Each one of them slumped forward. Their metal arms and heads hung loosely from their bodies.

  “Grab that device,” the Duke ordered.

  Quincy leapt toward Peter but Samuel and Fletcher blocked his way. Two more human guards entered but hesitated just inside the door.

  “The device will do you no good, actually,” Peter told the Duke.

  “It’s a fail
-safe we added to ensure your army couldn’t be used against us or any other human,” Thomas added.

  “You.” The Duke pointed at Peter and Thomas. “You will pay for this deception.” He turned and stomped off of the dais through the open doorway.

  “We need to stop him,” Peter told Nathaniel as they engaged the two guards who had joined the fray. “He has grand plans of marching into London and unseating the Queen.”

  “That’s what he wanted an army for?” Trixie asked as she kept watch from behind.

  “Yes,” Thomas confirmed.

  “He’s mad,” she said.

  Samuel and Fletcher subdued Quincy then Samuel went to assist Nathaniel and Peter.

  “Here.” Trixie tossed Fletcher a length of rope she found on one of the workbenches.

  “Thanks.” Fletcher flipped the unconscious Quincy over and bound his hands behind his back.

  “Peter. Your mother,” Thomas said.

  Peter kicked the man closest to him in the stomach then elbowed him in the back of his head. “You have him?” Peter asked Nathaniel.

  “Yes.” Nathaniel restrained the man. Peter skirted around them and ran out of the ballroom.

  Samuel knocked out the man he had been fighting with and came to assist Nathaniel.

  Nathaniel jerked his head to Peter’s retreating back. “Go with him.”

  “Got it.” Samuel ran after Peter.

  Trixie froze. “What about mother?” she asked her father.

  Thomas stopped his rummaging through parts and drawers. “You mother is alive. The Duke took us both. She’s here in the castle.”

  Trixie slumped against a nearby table. “She’s alive?”

  Thomas grabbed her by the arms. “Yes. It’s how the Duke has been controlling me. He uses her and the two of you as pawns in his sick game to ensure I get a proper amount of work done on his machines.”

  “But you’ve been gone for more than five years.”

  “I know.” He squeezed her arms. “Believe me. I know. And if there had been any way of getting word to the two of you, I would have.” He kissed her on top of her head. “But there’s no time for that right now. We need to find as many of the diagrams for these machines as we can. They need to be destroyed before they can be used by someone even worse than the Duke.”

  Trixie snapped out of her shock and went to a nearby table. She rummaged through the various parts scattered across the top. “Where would they be?” She opened a couple of the drawers to check inside.

  “They could be anywhere. The Duke wouldn’t allow us to collaborate very often. And lately Peter has carried the bulk of the work load alone.” He held up a piece of paper with scribbled words and pictures. “Just grab anything that looks like instructions.”

  “Got it.”

  “Where did you find that rope?” Fletcher yelled from across the room.

  “On that table,” she pointed out the one she meant.

  “Uh… a little help would be appreciated,” Nathaniel said.

  “Go ahead,” Thomas told her. “Help them.”

  She nodded then fetched the rope.

  As Nathaniel and Fletcher secured the two guards an explosion shook the castle.

  “What was that?” Fletcher asked.

  Nathaniel’s brow furrowed with concern.

  “Eva,” Thomas murmured. He dropped the papers he had been collecting and headed to one of the ballroom doors.

  Nathaniel cut him off. “Wait. You cannot just run off on your own, sir. We don’t know how many more guards the Duke has. Nor do we know what that explosion was.”

  “Move aside. I need to get to Eva.”

  “Peter went to get her, correct?” Nathaniel asked him.

  “Yes.” Thomas tried to step around Nathaniel but was blocked again.

  “Then let him do his job.”

  “But—”

  “If you go chasing after them, you could end up passing them by way of a different corridor then we’ll be scattered all over the castle.” Nathaniel blocked his attempt to pass again. “Trust Peter to do what he has to. Samuel went with him. They will find your wife, sir. I’m certain of it.”

  The muscle in Thomas’ jaw flexed but he finally relented with a nod of his head.

  Nathaniel gestured to the workspace. “Now that we have these men secured, what can we help you with?”

  “We need to search everything for notes or diagrams that show how to build these things,” he pointed to one of the partial built metal men.

  “We’ve already searched these tables here.” Trixie pointed to the handful they had collected.

  “Just grab anything you find, even if it looks insignificant. Most of the plans were broken into small sections to make it harder for anyone to piece the whole picture together.”

  “Smart,” Nathaniel said.

  Between the four of them, they managed to search most of the workspaces before they were interrupted again.

  “Thomas!” a woman exclaimed from the doorway. “Bea!”

  Trixie’s heart tripped over itself. She ran to the woman she never thought she would see again. “Mother!”

  Thomas dropped the box he had been sorting through and followed Trixie to the door.

  “Oh, my darling girl.” Evaline Wadeworth wrapped Trixie in her arms. Tears flowed from both women as they murmured nonsensical greetings to each other.

  When they had gotten over most of their blubbering, Thomas joined them. With an arm around each of them, he kissed Trixie on top of her head and then on Eva’s cheek.

  “Peter found you well, wife?”

  “He did.” She looked over her shoulder and motioned for him to join their group.

  He only hesitated a second before he did.

  “I’m afraid I need to cut this reunion short,” Nathaniel told them. “We still don’t know where the Duke went and we need to get everyone out of here.”

  Eva and Trixie wiped their eyes.

  Thomas cleared his throat. “The castle needs to be searched for the other scientists, but my priority is getting Eva and Trixie off this island. Preferably under guard.”

  “I’m not going anywhere without the rest of you,” Trixie said.

  “Nor am I,” Eva added.

  “Eva please,” Thomas pleaded.

  “Thomas. I’ve been trapped on this island with you for the last five years. If you think I am about to abandon you now, you’ve lost what little sense you have left. Do not ask it of me.”

  “We will all be leaving this island,” Nathaniel assured them. “What needs to happen right now is to ensure everyone brought here against their will are safe.”

  “Agreed,” Peter said. “You said you had people coming?”

  “Yes. Unfortunately, I don’t know when, but I expect sometime soon.” Nathaniel smirked. “Carrick wouldn’t want to miss a fight.”

  “There’s movement out front,” Samuel called from one of the windows.

  Nathaniel and Peter joined him at the window. Thomas held Eva and Trixie back.

  “Speak of the devil,” Nathaniel said. He told Trixie over her shoulder, “It’s Carrick and his men.”

  “Looks like they had a run in with the Duke.” Samuel told them. “I believe that might be his lordship tied behind the wagon.”

  Peter chuckled. “And he looks rather unhappy about his current predicament.”

  “I’ll meet him at the front entrance,” Nathaniel said.

  “Does that mean we’re really free?” Eva asked Thomas.

  “I believe so, my dear.” Thomas wrapped an arm around Eva and kissed her on top of the head.

  Trixie’s heart soared. She moved to her mother’s other side and wrapped her arm around Eva’s waist. With a sigh of contentment, Trixie lay her head against her mother’s shoulder.

  27

  Trixie sat at her desk, pen in hand, watching a bird hop from branch to branch in the tree just outside her parent’s sitting room window. For no less than the tenth time that morning she wondered
what Nathaniel was doing and when he would return to London. Her list of things to tell him had grown too long to remember. She was also anxious to know that he was still hale and unharmed.

  She grew warm. And in truth, she longed to be able to curl up next to him during the night and to feel his arms wrapped around her.

  “Did you finish those invitations yet?” her mother asked.

  “What?” She glanced at the envelopes still stacked neatly where they had been when she started. “Oh. No, I didn’t…”

  Eva put a hand on her shoulder. “Are you all right, dear?”

  “Yes. I’m fine.”

  Her mother raised one brow.

  “No. I’m not.” She let the pen fall from her fingers and dropped her head into her hands.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “No.” She moaned. Then looked up at her mother. She still couldn’t believe she was here. “Yes.” She grabbed her mother’s hand. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “About what?” Her mother pulled the nearby stool closer and sat. “Surely you’re not worried about the Duke.”

  “No.” Trixie waved that thought away with the flick of her wrist. “I don’t know what to think about Nathaniel.”

  “What about him?”

  “Other than the one note to say his superior had ordered him to remain on the island until the investigation was complete, he hasn’t written or come home or anything.”

  “Isn’t he working, dear?”

  “Yes,” she moped.

  “I’m sure he’ll be in contact as soon as he can.”

  “Do you really think he will?”

  “After everything the two of you went through together? I most certainly do.” She patted Trixie’s knee. “Besides, he said he would, didn’t he?”

  “Yes. But…”

  “But what?”

  “But then what?” Trixie whispered.

  “What do you mean?”

  “What happens when he returns?”

  “What do you want to happen?”

  “I…” She blinked. Her mouth hung open but words failed to form. Her heart sped up.

  “You care for him, don’t you?” her mother asked.

  A knot formed in her throat. She had to choke it down before she could answer. “Very much.”

  Her mother reached for her hand. “Then make sure he knows.”

  “But what if he doesn’t feel the same for me.”